Collaborative bioinventory of intertidal nematode meiofauna to advance systematics and monitor ecological change in the Northern Gulf of California

Description

As the most diverse and abundant marine metazoa, nematodes are significant components of biodiversity and useful bioindicators of environmental disturbance. Although these roundworms often have been omitted from biotic inventories because their taxonomy is not well developed, emerging technologies provide new opportunities for meaningful surveys. Interdisciplinary scientists at UCR and CICESE propose collaboration to strategically survey and inventory nematodes, at three ecologically sensitive localities within the Reserva de la Biosfera del Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Rio Colorado. The systems approach addresses the special inventory difficulties by leveraging the combined expertise of UC and Mexican institutions in molecular techniques, ecology, museum curation, taxonomic methods, video microscopy-recording, and scanning electron microscopy. Sampling will be quantitative and qualitative and diversity will be recorded including morphological vouchers and molecular characters linked in databases that will be broadly available to the scientific community supporting basic research in phylogeny and ecology. This UCMEXUS/CONACYT work is proposed as a seed project focused toward long term collaboration and cross-institution training; in addition, it is designed to develop a basis that will leverage expanding opportunities for future international support.

Source of support

UC Mexus - CONACYT

Duration

July 1st 2002 - December 31st 2003

Project team

Links

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